


burnt norton

by gayriot



Category: Homestuck
Genre: :((, Angst, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Inspired by Poetry, Past Relationship(s), Sadstuck, Suicide Attempt, angst up the kazoo, rose's point of view
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 04:41:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6940186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gayriot/pseuds/gayriot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"What might have been and what has been<br/>Point to one end, which is always present."</p>
            </blockquote>





	burnt norton

**Author's Note:**

> for james.

two years, six months, twelve days.

it's been a while.

rose lalonde has let her hair grow.

two years, six months, and twelve days ago, it stopped at her jaw, clean-cut and sharp, pristine as it always was. now, it falls in straggles past her shoulders. little cowlicks and waves that she never knew her hair was capable of have sprung up. she rarely ever cuts it. 

john egbert often comes over to spend the night at her house. they leave the room at the end of the hall with the broken door saddle shut, even though it's supposed to be a guest room now. they sit in rose's room. john's hair has gotten slightly curlier, slightly longer, but he keeps it short and as manageable as he can. when his glasses break one night after he falls off of rose's bed, he duct tapes them in the middle (like a nerd) and wears them around until his family gets insurance again. rose looks at him sadly the whole time and misses something, because the jokes she makes in her head remind her of someone. 

two years, six months, and twelve days ago everyone would've laughed about how stupid he looked, walking around like that, including john himself. only his dad and jade had laughed, as far as rose knew. 

two years, six months, and eighteen days, rose tried to fix the broken door saddle finally. she didn't know what to do. she knows nothing of home improvement. she would look it up, but she decided that making a temporary fix would be better.

she grabbed the roll of tape john had used on his glasses. she took a long strip of it and covered the long, thin crack in the wood with it. she started to cry. bro pulled her away from the door. 

it was common to catch rose on her phone nowadays. she never told anyone what she was always doing. she was texting her best friend, who she knew wouldn't text back. she texted anyway. 

john came over; two years, eight months, and two days. he was crying, and he looked like he'd vomited. he was holding a cardboard box. 

they sat down on rose's bed. he said that he didn't open the box; he wanted to open it with rose. he found it in his closet. it was the first time he cleaned his closet out in--well, almost three years now. 

the first thing they saw was a pair of headphones.

they were red and black. they were covered in sanrio stickers. they were visibly broken. 

there was a camera, an old one. it was a polaroid camera. it was a little dirty, slightly dusty, and there was only one picture left on it. there was a stack of polaroid pictures hidden by it, others scattered on the bottom of the box. rose watched john take one of the pictures and hastily stuff it into the pocket of his jeans. 

there was a small stuffed hello kitty. rose had never seen it before, but it made john cry even harder. 

at the very bottom of the box there laid an envelope. the cover had "JOHN:OPEN ALONE" scribbled on it in red pen, the handwriting barely illegible. he tucked it in his sleeve and wiped his nose on his sweater. 

three years, one month, and one day, john told rose what was in the envelope. he stopped showing up at her house after that day. 

soon, mr egbert took the box out of his house and gave it to rose to keep. 

four years, five months, seven days.

rose has cut her hair. 

it's back to how short it used to be. it's clean and sharp and she realizes how much she missed it. 

she and jade have moved to new york together. they have an apartment near their college. bro calls them from time to time. 

four years, five months, and ten days, and suddenly rose lalonde is overwhelmed with things that shouldn't matter anymore. she cries on the bathroom floor while jade is in class. and she cradles the box in her lap.

surprisingly, she feels better once she's done. bro calls her later and tells her that he's fixed the broken door saddle.


End file.
